MANILA, Philippines – Bayonne is close to the border of France and Spain along the Pyrenees mountain range, but for Benoit Saint Denis, the eight-hour drive to Paris isn’t so bad when he will need the home comforts and boisterousness of French mixed martial arts fans.
Saint Denis takes on Brazilian Renato Moicano (19-5-1) on Sunday, September 29 (Manila time), in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Accor Arena in Bercy, Paris.
After all, two of Saint Denis' wins have come at the very same venue.
Saint Denis, whose nickname is “The God of War” after a sterling five-year hitch with the French special forces, saw his impressive five-match win streak ended by Dustin Poirier last March 9 with a sensational knockout.
Saint Denis (13-2-0, 1 NC) had been on a major upswing in the UFC with two Performance of the Night and one Fight of the Night Awards bequeathed to him during that run.
The fight against Poirier was also adjudged Fight of the Night except the Frenchman ended up on the losing side.
He’ll be up against fellow lightweight Renato Moicano, who is on a three-match win streak — one by knockout, one by submission and one unanimous decision. So the Brazilian is in fine form.
Since Moicano left Brazil for his MMA career, he is 8-4 when fighting out of his homeland. UFC Fight Night will be his first fight in France let alone Europe. The 35-year-old Brazilian is ranked 11th in his UFC division while Saint Denis is one notch behind him.
He knows there is one last run in him so he will do his best to keep his streak going with a looming match-up against champion Islam Makhachev looming for the winner this 2025 with seven of the Top 10 fighters all coming off losses.
What makes this match exciting is both fighters are all-action. They’re aggressive and take the fight to their foes. Both are equally adept at striking and grappling. It would be interesting to see how they attack and defend each other on the ground as most of their wins have come from submission.
The match is expected to be an early contender for Fight of the Night.
UFC Fight Night will be televised live in the Philippines over the Premier Sports and Tap Sports channels on Sky Cable and Cignal, as well as on the Blast TV streaming application. The preliminary card starts at 12 a.m. and the main event at 3 a.m.